Water plan consigns farms to permanent drought

With some shrewd thinking, we can rescue the rivers without wiping out farmers.

By Andrew Broad

October 26, 2010 — 3.00am

Some have suggested the response from rural communities to the release of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's Guide to the Basin Plan has been an overreaction. However, those who understand the dynamics of irrigation communities and irrigation systems would not have been surprised.

The Murray-Darling Basin produces 40 per cent of Australia's food and fibre. Irrigated agriculture within the basin is responsible for $5 billion of fresh produce per annum, including the fruit and vegetables that are placed daily in the lunch boxes, and on the dinner tables, of every Victorian.

The basin authority has recommended cuts to water diversions of up to 45 per cent - but the cut for irrigators on some systems will be larger.

The information provided by the authority to justify low community and production impacts does not stand up to scrutiny. A key argument is that the reduction in water was greater during the recent drought and yet farm production only fell by 1.1 per cent. The fact is that during drought years farmers delay investment and increase debt levels to maintain productive capacity. Debt must be serviced and dairy cows and fruit trees cannot simply be mothballed until the water returns. Farmers keep them going to service debt and maintain the capacity to recover quickly with the knowledge the drought will one day end.

A report conducted by Monash University gives a sobering view of the determination of farmers to maintain their businesses during drought and the impact on their families and communities.

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The study found that the effects of less water included increased levels of stress, financial pressure, social isolation, marital conflict and off-farm employment.

These burdens are taken on because all droughts end and farmers believe in a future. The plan produced by the basin authority is to, in effect, legislate for a permanent drought. Already the belief in a future, for many irrigation communities, has been shaken.

While the release of the guide is the first step in a long process, investment is drying up as farmers and communities weigh up their capacity to survive.

The impact on the many communities that rely on irrigated agriculture will be substantial. While the farm-gate value of production is $5.5 billion, irrigation supports a vast network of suppliers, contractors, processors and retail businesses.

The authority has identified 128,000 farm and manufacturing jobs in the basin directly reliant on irrigation. This does not include the school teachers, nurses, shop owners, plumbers and electricians who live and work in towns that only exist because of production generated by irrigation.

The government has committed to buying back the water identified as needed for rivers and claims the process will offset the loss of water from farms. This is a superficial assessment. It is the reduction in water from the irrigation system that will reduce the economic activity in our regions, and increase the running costs for those remaining in irrigation. A buyback will not provide full economic value to the community. In many cases, funds received will be taken by banks to retire debt.

The farm community is not unaware of or unsympathetic to the needs of the rivers in the basin. Victorian farmers have already handed over in excess of 200 billion litres to the environment. Now we are being called on to give a further 1.3 trillion litres.

We are not saying more water for the environment isn't needed; we are saying farmers have found ways to do more with each drop. There are also ways to achieve better environmental outcomes with less.

The Lindsay Island wetlands in north-western Victoria are one example of where a relatively small infrastructure investment of $43 million could cut the water required by the environment by 1100 gigalitres. This could be achieved by backing up one large regulator on the Lindsay River and 10 smaller regulators along the waterways.

Analysis by the Victorian Department of Sustainability and the Environment has identified other projects, including a potential saving of 3713 gigalitres to flood the Hattah Lakes and 740 gigalitres to flood the Gunbower Forest. Both of these savings could be achieved over the course of an environmental watering program.

The same level of analysis should be applied along the length of the Murray, including evaporation losses in the lower lakes.

Surely, as a country renowned for our innovative nature, a better way can be found to achieve balanced outcomes in the basin. Farmers cannot back a plan that will depopulate the farms and towns that are the backbone of our nation.